Doubting dental school

[zdoq]

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I have been drilling in sim lab for about half a semester and to summarize how I feel so far, I'm seriously thinking about switching career paths to computer science lol. I have decent hand skills and my preps are decent but I am hating how tedious it feels. It takes me 1 hour+ to get a prep that meets all of the criteria the faculty are looking for. I'm feeling ridiculous eye strain from peering at one spot so close for so long (I am using loupes). I'm starting to get anxiety about if I really chose the right career path for me. I'm feeling really anxious about having to do all of this in a living, breathing, moving human vs. a dummy typodont. Drilling for hours and hours and days and days... I can't imagine trying to do this while feeling rushed by front desk staff either. Does it start to feel better? Or does it get worse?

 

[deleted923283]

I have been drilling in sim lab for about half a semester and to summarize how I feel so far, I'm seriously thinking about switching career paths to computer science lol. I have decent hand skills and my preps are decent but I am hating how tedious it feels. It takes me 1 hour+ to get a prep that meets all of the criteria the faculty are looking for. I'm feeling ridiculous eye strain from peering at one spot so close for so long (I am using loupes). I'm starting to get anxiety about if I really chose the right career path for me. I'm feeling really anxious about having to do all of this in a living, breathing, moving human vs. a dummy typodont. Drilling for hours and hours and days and days... I can't imagine trying to do this while feeling rushed by front desk staff either. Does it start to feel better? Or does it get worse?

Worse. But do it anyway.

 

[oralcare123]

Sim lab sucks. It gets better - you will get faster and may or may not start enjoying procedures

 

[PerioDont]

The day I turned in my keys to my Sim lab spot was literally one of the best days of my entire life

 

[PerioDont]

I still go out of my way in residency to avoid walking through the dental schools sim clinic.

I loved clinic in D3/4 and found real life dentistry is actually quite easier (the drilling part at least)

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

in real life, dental procedures are the least of your worries. dealing with human is the most difficult part (staff problems, employer problem, and patient problem).

As you prep more and more and reach in a thousand repetition, the dentistry becomes more natural and intuitive. In real life, no patient will like it to open their mouth for 1 hour straight for you to prep a crown or a filling restoration. 10-15 min crown prep is the max. and filling prep is about 5-10 min. but again, in real life, caries is big and extensive and you are not restricted to the criteria set in sim lab.

some people, it gets better as they accept things that cannot be changed ( have to deal with crazy human here and there or more often than not) and some hate it to the gut and go back to teach and have to deal with the stupid lame administration that every dental school has.

at least look on the bright side you have decent prep now unlike some students for the life of their souls cannot pull out even decent prep after 3 hours.

dentistry, after all is a business, your employer or yourself when you are your own boss, have to cover overhead expenses (rent, equipment lease, supply fee, staff payroll, utilities). that means every day you have to make certain amount of money to cover that. if you don't, then the business you are working for is going under. when business is going under they only have two choices
1. make changes (restructuring by firing the staff and/or the dentist and replace them with better people)
2. going under and close the door
in real life, if you spend 2 hours for a crown prep that pays 800-900$ PPO fee then good luck! it is not economically feasible. it is hard to accept this but the sooner you look at this from the business side, the better your life will be.

 

[Rambunctious]

I have been drilling in sim lab for about half a semester and to summarize how I feel so far, I'm seriously thinking about switching career paths to computer science lol. I have decent hand skills and my preps are decent but I am hating how tedious it feels. It takes me 1 hour+ to get a prep that meets all of the criteria the faculty are looking for. I'm feeling ridiculous eye strain from peering at one spot so close for so long (I am using loupes). I'm starting to get anxiety about if I really chose the right career path for me. I'm feeling really anxious about having to do all of this in a living, breathing, moving human vs. a dummy typodont. Drilling for hours and hours and days and days... I can't imagine trying to do this while feeling rushed by front desk staff either. Does it start to feel better? Or does it get worse?

We've all been there, keep pushing. No dentist will absolutely love 100% doing dentistry, if they tell you that they are lying big time. You're doing this to have financial freedom, time for family, business opportunities, etc. Dentistry is tolerable due to the lifestyle it brings with it. Don't give up, keep practicing, dental school is supposed to suck but i promise it gets better after.

 

[HowToTeeth101]

As a pre-dent, I really enjoyed sifting through old threads and seeing your posts. I'm not in dental school yet but I'm wishing you luck in finding more confidence in your craft. GL!

 

[zdoq]

As a pre-dent, I really enjoyed sifting through old threads and seeing your posts. I'm not in dental school yet but I'm wishing you luck in finding more confidence in your craft. GL!

Oh boy, hopefully my bright-eyed, bushy-tailed younger self hasn't said anything too embarrassing. Good luck with your pre-dent journey as well !

 

[zdoq]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I'm gonna bookmark this and come back to it whenever I need that extra slap of reality/encouragement. I'm about to go into my first Class I prep and restoration practical today and re-reading this was helpful. Hope this was helpful for others in their D1 year as well

 

[HowToTeeth101]

Oh boy, hopefully my bright-eyed, bushy-tailed younger self hasn't said anything too embarrassing. Good luck with your pre-dent journey as well !

From what I've seen, you haven't! Also, thank you, I appreciate that.

 

[MedSnow]

Seriously man if you can’t overcome minor adversity like this you can’t overcome anything at all; better just drive doordash and live paycheck by paycheck.
Many problems come up not for you to avoid, they’re there for you to get better.

 

[zdoq]

Seriously man if you can’t overcome minor adversity like this you can’t overcome anything at all; better just drive doordash and live paycheck by paycheck.
Many problems come up not for you to avoid, they’re there for you to get better.

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant debt.

 

[DrJeff]

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant debt.

One of the best bits of life advice that I had given to me about 25 years ago, was that if you're taking a step into something (such as a career) that makes you feel a bit uncomfortable, then you're probably making the right choice, as ultimately it is likely to challenge and push you to evolve as person and become better for it it in the long run.

Making the "easy" decsion, while there is some comfort in it since you're typically staying in a familar, safe place in your head, often ends up leading to one down the road wondering "what if I did that other thing" and not reaching their full potential (plenty a mid life crisis has its roots based in people who chose to take the "safe" route rather than get outside of their comfort zone and challenge themselves.

 

[2TH MVR]

Dental school is a necessary evil. As everyone has posted .... DS sucks mostly. You're paying for this misery and going into debt for this lol. But this will all change once you graduate and you are being PAID for your efforts. It changes everything and makes sense of all the hard work you placed into this career.
As others have posted .... the dental procedures with time and experience will be easy.

See the big picture.

Speaking of eye strain. I cannot imagine what it would be like to stare into a computer screen all the time writing code.

 

[MedSnow]

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant debt.

First of all, research more on freedom of limitation. Because i’m pretty sure you can’t live 1000 years to explore all the options.
Second of all, you don’t know

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant debt.

Research more on freedom of limitation.

I’m just the kind of person who likes to make sure all my options have been covered before plunging in completely. I got a scholarship for this first semester of dental school so I’m being heavily introspective and making sure that this is absolutely the right career for me before I start accumulating significant debt.

I don’t deal with entitlement. Good luck on whatever you choose.

 

[PerioDont]

First of all, research more on freedom of limitation. Because i’m pretty sure you can’t live 1000 years to explore all the options.
Second of all, you don’t know

Research more on freedom of limitation.

I don’t deal with entitlement. Good luck on whatever you choose.

Not sure why you are being so hostile with someone who is struggling at the beginning of a challenging time in their school and venting to people who have gone through it.

You are entitled to leave this thread.